Categories
Health Mind & Body Non Fiction

Home Detox, Daniella Chase

Something which we aren’t often taught at school is that our homes are full of more toxins than the outside world! So many products which we use everyday are having an impact on our health, and this does not need to be the case as there are many safer alternatives out there.

In this practical and easy to understand guide toxicologist, Daniella Chace, teaches us how to identify toxins, gives us steps on how to remove them, and suggests many alternatives.

The book is split by room and for each room the author gives us a ‘Toxic Ten’ (the 10 most toxic things which are commonly found in the identified room), and gives us a step by step cleaning guide to remove toxins from that particular room. The book is concise, accessible and gives clear actions for everyone, no matter what your prior knowledge is of this subject.

I completely underestimated what I was going to get out of this book. If I am completely honest the two things which initially drew me to this book was one was that I share the same name with the author, and the other being that it is going to be published on my birthday! My initial expectations were that it would be a Marie Kondo style book- focusing on decluttering. However, it is so much more than that. Home Detox is the science lesson I never had at school and was a real eye- opener. How some of these things are allowed to be sold is really questionable!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and found it so empowering and informative. Some habits will definitely be harder to shift that others (thinking of my candle addiction), but other things I was really keen to try straight away. This book has certainly made me more mindful of the products I use (and will make me think twice about future purchases).

With thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Home Detox is out now.

Categories
Non Fiction Self help

Why the F*ck Can’t I Change? Dr. Gabija Toleikyte

How many of us want to implement new habits into our lives, but often find them short lived? Whether it is diet related or how we deal with stress change is hard, but Why the F*ck Can’t I Change is here to tell you that it is not as impossible as you may think.

Dr. Gabija Toleikyte is a neuroscientist and behavioural coach, who explains why we form certain habits and behaviours, shows us how we can stop ourselves from repeating mistakes and takes us on an eye-opening journey through the way the human brain works.

Covering topics such as why you should not suddenly stop bad habits, ways to improve your productivity and how to look after your brain health. Why the F*ck Can’t I Change is transformative, inspiring and empowering.

Unlike other self help books I found Why the F*ck Can’t I Change took a more pragmatic approach to guiding us. Dr. Gabija uses a mixture of academic research and case studies to bring her points to life, and she suggests activities throughout so you can put her advice into practice.

I enjoyed the scientist approach this book took as it was useful to know the ‘why’ behind things. Rather than just being told how to change, it was helpful to know why we are a particular way, which the author tells us by going right down to basics, for example our animal instincts.

Some may say that this is more of a textbook, as the author introduces the purpose of each chapter and writes summaries at the end of each chapter. Whilst, for some this may trigger bad school memories, or perhaps feel overly repetitive, I found it really helpful. The chapters were well-structured, the summaries reminded of what I had learnt and are incredibly useful if you wish to refer back to things.

Will you enjoy this book if you are not overly interested in science? Personally, I never particularly enjoyed science at school, but found this book fascinating. I found the author’s explanations easy to understand and no matter how scientific you are or you are not, I believe this is the one neuroscience book we can all get behind. We all have a brain (some may say debatable) so do we not owe it to ourselves to understand how it works?

Overall, a refreshing, well researched and practical self-help book, which not only teaches how but why. Five stars.

Why the F*ck Can’t I Change is out now. Thank you to Thread and NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.